Company and Cookies
by dragonflysky
Summary: Sora is upset and comfort comes from an unexpected source.  After all, misery loves company.  Set after "TATA Box" in the "Technical Difficulties" 'verse.  Friendship fic. Oneshot.


Company and Cookies

By dragonflysky

Well, this is really random but I went to _Extremely Loud and Incredibly Loud_ last night. I felt like I needed to write something and this is what you get. You can think of this as a continuation in the "Technical Difficulties" universe. Anyway, enjoy!

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"Stupid, stupid, STUPID!" Sora roared as she threw her sweatshirt to the floor. Not very rebellious, but she wasn't going to have that slow her down. The room, despite her tantrum, looked almost spotless and she had to remind herself that throwing a few papers and messing up her desk would do nothing more than put her in a worse mood when she had to clean it up. Her tennis racket sat against the wall and, if it weren't for the weather, she wished she could do nothing more than play until she couldn't think.

"I'm so sick of him," she yelled out, collapsing on her bed and burying her face in her pillow. The silence roared in her ears in a way that made her both glad and angry at the same time.

"Oh Biyomon," she whispered, thinking about her pink feathered partner who was off doing a patrol of the digital world with Gomamon and Gabumon. The three of them wouldn't be back for two days and she knew that contact was extremely limited and reserved for emergencies only. Izzy hadn't really gone into much detail as to what they were doing, but she knew that it was important.

Her mother had gone out on a trip for the weekend and Sora knew how badly she needed to relax from the recent pressures of work and worrying about her daughter. She slowly made her way to the living room with the full intention of pulling herself out of this funk she was in. She made it as far as the couch before she collapsed on it again, clutching the blanket she hadn't noticed she'd been holding to her chest. The silence of the apartment was slowly killing her, but she couldn't bring herself to get up and turn on the TV or the radio.

'If I hear one more word about happy couples I'm going to retch,' she thought glumly as she tried to curl into herself. There she sat, wallowing in self-pity and silently cursing stupid boyfriends and friends who weren't coming to help her.

"Thanks guys," she whispered miserably. A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. She buried her face farther in the couch pillow, hoping that whoever was there would go away and let her suffer in peace. She tensed as the knock continued, louder and slightly more urgent.

'Go away,' she willed. There was silence again and she let her body relax again.

"Sora, I know you're in there!" she heard a voice yell through the door. She shot up, recognizing the voice but not understanding why she was hearing it. There was a long pause again before the knock repeated.

"Sora, I-I'll break down the door," the voice stammered slightly and she couldn't help but smile a little about how ludicrous the words sounded. Slowly, she pushed herself off the couch and to the door. A look through the peep-hole confirmed the identity of the person on the other side. Carefully, she unlatched the lock.

"Joe, what are you doing here?" she asked quietly as the door swung open. The future doctor smiled warmly as he looked down on her, his eyes twinkling in a way that reminded her of some kind of young Dumbledore from the popular wizarding series.

"Well," he paused, as if thinking through something complicated, "turns out I messed up with my girlfriend too and you know what they say." She waited, but he didn't continue.

"What do they say?" she asked as she shook her head. He took a hand to ruffle out his wet hair that must have gotten from walking in the rain. He smiled again as he looked down at his bag and carefully pulled out a large bag of cookies.

"Misery loves company," he grinned. That phrase caused her to smile a little. Joe took that as a good sign and stepped past her and into the apartment. Stripping off his shoes and jacket, he followed her back to the living room where he sat comfortably in one of the chairs. They sat in silence, Sora hugging her knees to her chest and Joe waiting patiently for her to speak.

"Yolei told you, didn't she?" she finally asked. Joe thought for a moment before nodding.

"She was worried," he said, taking a cookie and swallowing it in one bite. Sora snorted softly but knew that the second generation digidestined had meant well.

"So I take it you lost the coin toss," she muttered bitterly. Joe chuckled softly and she bristled.

"Actually, Izzy lost the coin toss," he smiled. Sora looked at him skeptically but didn't sense any falseness in the statement.

"Oh," she said softly. Joe stood, his tall but thin frame looking even bigger from her spot on the couch. He meandered his way over to the window where a light rain was dripping down the glass.

"It's nice out," he observed, clasping his hands behind his back. She stared out the window.

"It's raining," she replied, bluntly. He chuckled again and she tried to squash her minor irritation. Here she was ready to cry her eyes out and he didn't seem able to stop smiling.

"You're just looking at it in the wrong way," he said. She blinked.

"How should I be looking at it?" she whispered.

"Rainstorms are funny things. A lot of people don't like them because it means they are stuck indoors," he said, moving over to the couch.

"I just think it's kind of depressing," she muttered, squeezing her knees a little tighter. Joe shook his head.

"It may seem dark at first, but the rain waters the plants and helps them grow stronger," he began, and Sora was beginning to get the feeling that they weren't just talking about agriculture. Joe grabbed colors and paper off an end table, left there from a project Sora had worked on earlier in the week. Slowly and carefully, he drew the simple outline of a leaf with a cloud above it. Using the blue, he drew many small lines that "connected" the two. She stared at the picture for a minute before she grabbed the yellow and drew a lightning bolt in his picture of a rainstorm.

"What happens when it storms?" she whispered, fighting hard not to let her tears tumble out of her eyes.

"It rains a little harder, and those things that are strong enough survive and get even stronger," he spoke with such conviction that she felt like she almost believed him. She sniffled, burying her face in her hands so he wouldn't see her cry. He picked up the yellow crayon from where she had let it fall, along with a couple of other colors, and began to draw again.

"Sometimes," he started, intently focused on his sketch, "it takes a little bad weather for us to get a glimpse of something truly magical." He carefully pulled her hand away from her face and set the drawing into it. It was no masterpiece, but she could feel her heart loosen in her chest as she stared at the simple rainbow that he had depicted coming out of the simple storm cloud. They were both silent again and he waited for her to release her grip on the paper.

"What did you do?" she asked. The digidestined of reliability scrunched up his face.

"What do you mean?" he countered in puzzlement.

"To your girlfriend," she clarified. His mouth opened in a silent "o" of realization before his face fell slightly. He got up off the couch and walked his way back to the window. The rain had lightened a little.

"It's almost her birthday. Do you remember me saying that?" he asked. She nodded, even though he hadn't actually told her that.

"I've been picking up extra hours, you know. There's this necklace, a beautiful necklace, that's perfect for her, but I needed some extra cash to pay for it," he said.

"Couldn't you afford it?" she asked. Joe shook his head.

"That wasn't the problem. I hadn't been able to study for a while because I was always working," he continued.

"And then what?" she pressed. He took a deep breath.

"I forgot, and I studied. I left her sitting by herself in a nice restaurant and a beautiful dress with nothing," he said. Sora stood swiftly and ran to him before wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"Oh Joe," she said. Joe pat her back gently.

"Just talk to her," she continued, "explain what happened! There's no way she could stay angry if she'd listen for a minute-" the digidestined of love trailed off as realization dawned on her. She pulled away and Joe looked down on her.

"I walked right into that one, didn't I?" she smiled wryly.

"Yeah, just a little," Joe said, returning her smile with a small one of his own. Sora went over and sat down on the couch. Running her hand through her hair, she smoothed down the rats nest that had been building since she began crying.

Joe went back to looking out the window, clasping his hands behind his back. Sora's gaze traveled down to the picture that she had abandoned on the couch. The rainbow stood out brightly in contrast to the gray cloud that it was next to and she once again marveled at the double meaning he had pulled out of it. With a sigh, she pushed herself off the couch and into the kitchen. The fridge was nearly empty, but she pulled out a half gallon of milk and poured two glasses almost to the brim.

Slowly, she walked back to the living room and put the two glasses on the coffee table. She pulled up the bag of cookies and set it between the two glasses.

"Misery does love company," she started. Joe jumped a little at the unexpected sound and turned to face her.

"…Yes?" he both agreed and asked, more confused than anything. She smiled a little and gestured to the set up before her.

"And cookies love milk," she said, patting the seat next to her. Joe smiled a little and came to sit down next to her.

"I guess they do," he spoke as he helped himself to a cookie and dipped it in the glass. A couple hours later, there was a knock at the door. When a blond stumbled in stuttering apologies, she listened. The red haired boy that had come in behind him stood guard over the door before going to sit next to the older boy on the couch. Joe continued eating his cookies on the couch as he and Izzy began talking about something that Sora couldn't hear. She smiled when, out of the corner of her eye, she swear she saw a rainbow out the window.

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Well, there is a little Joe and Sora friendship. I'm thinking of doing a second oneshot about the coin toss, and how Izzy dealt with Matt, but I'm not sure. Anyway, let me know what you think. I did reread this, but it is 3AM and I have homework to do in the morning so I thought I'd post this now rather than let it sit in the folder in "My Documents". On a side note, I have currently lost the next chapter of Binding Hope. My computer crashed and my back up of the story is on a computer at my house that I won't be able to get at for a couple weeks. I promise I'm still working on it and should have it posted as soon as I find it. Ok, so that's it. Let me know what you think and if you are interested in seeing another oneshot. Catch ya….


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